


Tatemae

by 0bviousLeigh



Series: Yuma is a Girl [5]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Gender or Sex Swap, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-22 06:37:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11961774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0bviousLeigh/pseuds/0bviousLeigh
Summary: Tatemae - the behavior and opinions one displays in public / Yuma explains the difference between male and female to the naked ghost that follows her around.





	Tatemae

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my Zexal rewrite that I started for Zexal month on tumblr--an AU in which, first and foremost, Yuma is a girl. Always a girl, born with a V, the whole nine yards. Why? Because the idea wouldn't leave me alone. So [I drew it](http://rainbow-galaxy-supernova.tumblr.com/post/164290621451/zexal-month-day-13-yuma-day-something-ive-been), and I started writing it, and I ran with it.
> 
> This is not a rewrite of a specific episode, but it is plot related.

There’s a lot that Yuma finds hard to believe in her life. She can’t believe she has a collection of museum-quality artifacts in her attic. She can’t believe she hasn’t seen her parents in two years. She can’t believe her sister isn’t married yet. She can’t believe she actually beat Shark in a duel, and she certainly can’t believe that even after beating him, Shark’s still running around with his gang and pretending like he has no idea who Yuma is. But what she finds most hard to believe is that there’s the ghost of an alien, floating a few feet away from her, who came to Earth to find Number cards which contain their lost memories.

It’s been about two weeks since Astral started following Yuma around, and after their little bonding moment over Esper Robin, Yuma feels like she ought to get to know Astral a bit more.

“How old are you?” Yuma asks Astral.

“I don’t know,” Astral answers.

“I’m fourteen and a half,” Yuma says.

“Half?” Astral asks.

“Half a year,” Yuma clarifies. “And yes, halves matter.” She looks the alien up and down. “What are those markings on your skin? Are they tattoos?”

“What is a tattoo?” Astral asks.

“It’s ink that’s drawn on your skin and then pushed into it with a needle,” Yuma answers. Then, before Astral can ask, “A needle is long, thin, and sharp piece of metal.”

Astral looks astonished. “That has never happened to me. You know humans who do that?”

Yuma nods. “My dad has a tattoo on his right arm and my mom has one between her shoulder blades. I swear to god Akari has had one since she was sixteen, but she hid it, and she won’t let me get one till I turn eighteen, the hypocrite.”

“It sounds painful,” Astral says.

“Oh it is,” Yuma tells him, “But it’s so cool. So, what are your things called?”

“Skin,” Astral answers. “I don’t think they have a special name. They are just…part of my skin. They absorb all that is necessary for me to survive. Sunlight, water, air, and so on.”

Yuma’s jaw drops. “Wicked cool,” she breathes. “Is that why you don’t eat?”

“I suppose,” Astral says. “I never feel the need to eat.”

Yuma leans forward, chin in her palm. “So, why aren’t you wearing any clothes?”

Astral shrugs. “I don’t know.”

“I guess you don’t really need them,” Yuma says with a frown. “Especially if you live by absorbing stuff through your skin. Though I’ve gotta admit, it’s kind of awkward looking at you.”

“Why?” Astral asks.

“For the same reason I wouldn’t let you follow me into the bathroom yesterday,” Yuma snaps. “On this planet, male and female are different, and we cover up our physical differences, and we don’t just go around _looking._ Aren’t males and females different where you come from?”

“I don’t know,” Astral says. “What makes you so different that it must be hidden?”

“You’re like an infant,” Yuma sighs. She turns to one of her trunks and digs out a puberty book that Akari got for her. She opens to a diagram and holds it up in front of her face, so Astral can see the diagrams and she doesn’t have to see Astral. “This is male, this is female,” she says, pointing at the pages that are etched into her brain.

“Oh,” Astral says, blinking. They’re silent for a moment, then say, “Don’t I resemble a female more than a male?”

Yuma slams the book shut. “Do you have a uterus?” She asks.

“A what?” Astral asks.

“Where babies are made!” Yuma says. “Babies grow inside a woman’s uterus for nine months and then…then they’re born.”

“How?” Astral asks.

“Shit, who cares?!” Yuma cries. “Where do babies come from on your planet?!”

Astral’s eyes light up. “I was born from a ray of light, and I heard a voice telling me that it was my destiny to go to earth for some great purpose, which would help save my planet and my people.”

That’s…news to Yuma. She clears her throat. “By any chance, have you heard of Jesus’ Salvation of Mankind?”

Astral looks intrigued. “No, is that a spell card?”

Yuma chokes on her own spit. She wheezes and shakes her head. “Never mind,” she says hoarsely.

Astral looks disappointed. “Is any of this helping you decide if I’m a boy or a girl?”

Yuma shakes her head again. “But, gender is undergoing a revolution on this planet. It’s no longer about one or another, some people feel like they’re a girl and a boy, or neither a girl or a boy, some people who were born with people thinking that they’re girls end up being boys, and the other way ‘round. So you don’t have decide if you’re a boy or a girl based on how you look.”

“You are a girl?” Astral asks.

Yuma nods. “I have been my whole life. Never felt like anything else, though people say I act like a boy. And I used to call myself ‘ore,’ but that was only…” she stops. “Never mind.”

“Then perhaps I am a boy,” Astral says thoughtfully. “I am nothing like you, after all.”

“Do you want me to call you a boy?” Yuma asks.

Astral is quiet for a moment, than nods. “Yes, I think I would like that.”

“Okay then,” Yuma says.

Astral floats to the ground and leans close to Yuma. “Now tell me more about this Salvation of Mankind.”

_Shit._


End file.
